Man the floodgates! David Cameron takes to Twitter

Are you sure about this, Prime Minister?

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Prime Minister David Cameron opened for business on Twitter yesterday (6 October) with his first message:

I'm starting Conference with this new Twitter feed about my role as Conservative Leader. I promise there won't be "too many tweets..."

It looks like he'll need a full-time Twitter secretary to deal with the barrage he is already receiving.

In less than a day @David_Cameron has attracted almost 80,000 followers (at time of writing), not all fans:

It could be a while before Cameron catches up with Barack Obama: the US President has 20.6 million Twitter followers.

Twatted

In 2009, David Cameron famously provoked some synthetic outrage on breakfast radio when, asked about his views of Twitter, he said: "The trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it – too many twits might make a twat."

In UK English, Twat is a mild term of abuse for idiot, and less commonly an offensive term for vagina. It is not considered a swear word under broadcasting guidelines, according to a Reg report of the Cameron twat incident. But the prime minister quickly apologised for his off-colour joke.

"You always have to be careful what you say. If I've caused any offence I obviously regret that," he told Sky News. ®